Humphrey Plowden "H.P." Ward (20 January 1899 – 16 December 1946) was an English

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, who played for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(1919–1921), Europeans (India) (1921/22–1945/46), Madras (1926/27–1938/39), H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI (1931), Indian XI (1933/34) and the Madras Governor's XI (1941/42) and in one match for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

in 1920. He also played for the Yorkshire Second XI in 1920, and for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) from 1931 to 1935. He won an

Oxford Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

for cricket from 1919 to 1921 and also played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for Oxford. He was a member of the Great Britain football squad at the 1920 Summer Olympics but did not feature in the competition. Ward graduated from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1921 and joined the Indian Forest Service. On moving to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1921, he joined the Europeans cricket team and played for the team against Indians in the

Madras Presidency Matches The Madras Presidency Matches were annual first-class cricket matches played in Madras (now Chennai) from the 1915–16 season to 1951–52 between the cricket teams of Indians and the Europeans (i.e., Europeans who were living in India). The ...

. He holds the record for the highest run aggregate in the Madras Presidency matches. He was the team's principal wicket-keeper and captained the team intermittently between 1921 and 1946. Ward also played for Madras in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

from 1934 to 1946, including two internationals against the Australian Services and an All Australian eleven respectively. A right-handed batsman and

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

, he scored 3,571 runs at 32.46, with a best score of 173 against the 'Indians'. He made four centuries in all, and 21 fifties in his 66 first-class matches. He held 67 catches and completed 18

stumping Stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket, which involves the wicket-keeper putting down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground. (The batsman leaves his ground when he has moved down the pitch beyond the popping crease ...

s. Ward was born in

Amotherby Amotherby is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about west of Malton. Description The village appears in the ''Domesday Book'' (1086) as 'Aimundrebi' which is derived from 'Eymund's farm' ...

, Malton,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England and died in Thornton-le-Dale, Yorkshire.

References

External links

ESPNcricinfo Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Humphrey 1899 births 1946 deaths Yorkshire cricketers Europeans cricketers People from Malton, North Yorkshire Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Oxford University cricketers English cricketers Tamil Nadu cricketers Footballers from North Yorkshire H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Great Britain Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Cricketers from North Yorkshire